In 1935,Avelino went into private practice of his profession and became a senior member of Avelino &Yatco.[4] In 1937,he returned to government service.[2] He served as Secretary of Labor and later as Secretary of Public Works and Communications in the late 1930s under President Manuel L. Quezon.[5][6] When he was the Secretary of Labor,Avelino unified the labor unions by organizing them into two commissions:the National Commission of Labor (NCL) and the National Commission of Peasants (NCP);he was designated chairman of these two commissions in 1938.[7]
Senate
He participated in the 8th Philippine Legislature from 1928 to 1931 representing the Philippines's 9th senatorial district of Leyte and Samar. He then participated in the 9th Philippine Legislature from 1931 to 1934.[8] Avelino is known as the "father of the Philippine Workmen’s Compensation Law" which he authored during his term in Senate. The bill focused on creating a contingency insurance fund for workers as a way to protect them from economic problems.[9] Avelino also founded the first labor union in Eastern Visayas,Gremio Obrero de Stevedores.[10]
He was a part of the passage of the Social Security System and pushed for the establishment of public high schools in every province in the Philippines.[10] From 1934 to 1935,he was the President pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines in the 10th Philippine Legislature after the death of JoséClarín.[8] From 1946 to 1949 in the National Senate of the Philippines,he was elected as the president.[8] Due to this,he became a popular politician in the Liberal Party next to President Manuel Roxas,contributing a large part in Roxas' 1946 campaign;he was "frustrated" with Elpidio Quirino's leadership. He became the president of the Liberal Party but was ousted shortly after due to a Senate investigation regarding alleged fraud.[11]
Avelino ran for the Philippine presidency in the 1949 election,where he became third in a race between incumbent president Elpidio Quirino and former president JoséP. Laurel. In the Senate,Avelino was evenly divided with Quirino,[12] but the latter still won with 50.93% of the votes. Avelino garnered 11.85% of the votes,and his vice-presidential mate,Vicente Francisco,garnered 13.19%.[13]
"What are we in power for?" quote
Avelino was quoted as saying "What are we in power for?" during a party caucus in Malacañang. The whole statement was:
"Why did you have to order an investigation Honorable Mr. President? If you cannot permit abuses,you must at least tolerate them. What are we in power for? We are not hypocrites. Why should we pretend to be saints when in reality we are not? We are not angels. When we die,we will all go to hell. It is better to be in hell because in that place there are no investigations,no secretary of justice,no secretary of the interior to go after us."[14]
The above account is disputed by historian Quintin Doroquez.[15][12] Doroquez claims that Avelino was misquoted as "corrupt" by Celso Cabrera,a news reporter who did not speak Spanish.[12] Doroquez also states that Congressman Faustino Tobia of Ilocos Norte confessed to the Avelino family later that the entire quote was fabricated and that the original context of Avelino's comment at the said party caucus on January 15,1949,was about the Quirino administration dealing with the problems of the country.[12] According to Doroquez,Congressman Tobia offered the following paraphrase as closer to what Avelino actually said in Spanish at the meeting,with the translation being:"Mr. President,is it not the truth that not addressing vigorously these problems is to betray and negate fundamentally our duties as public servants? What for is our mandate from the people?"[12]
Personal life
Avelino was married to Enriqueta Casal and had four sons.[12] He is the great-grandfather of actor Paulo Avelino.[16] Calbayog,his birthplace,became a city due to Avelino (as president of the Senate) when he merged three contiguous municipalities (Oquendo,Calbayog and Tinambacan) into the 19th city of the Philippines on July 15,1948—the date President Elpidio Quirino signed Republic Act No. 328.[17]
Later life,death,and legacy
After his loss in the 1949 elections,he held a post as an ambassador to President Elpidio Quirino,and subsequently returned to practicing law. He died on July 21,1986,at the age of 95. Honoring his 129th birthday,the Presidential Palace declared August 5,2019 as a special non-working day in Samar. On social media,the city information office wrote:"The people of Calbayog acknowledge him as The Father of Calbayog City. Together with Congressman Agripino Escareal,he pushed for the creation of the City of Calbayog".[9]
Dante, Simbulan (2006). The Modern Principalia: The Historical Evolution of the Philippine Ruling Oligarchy. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN9715424961.
Raquiza, Antoinette R. (2013). State Structure, Policy Formation, and Economic Development in Southeast Asia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN9781136505010.
Takagi, Yusuke (2016). Central Banking as State Building: Policymakers and Their Nationalism in the Philippines, 1933-1964. NUS Press. ISBN9789814722117.
External links
Media related to José Avelino at Wikimedia Commons
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